Monday 27 June 2011

In which we try to get back on track with reading...





On Wednesday night, my wonderful K arrived home with a bright pink beanbag for me - we'd talked a while ago about the need for extra seating (particularly while the front room is being redecorated) and I'd identified a pink beanbag but we never got around to going to get it, and I had quite forgotten about it. As K is rarely spontaneous, it made me incredibly happy! Although Bernard has temporarily appropriated it as an excellent spot to sit on during the day while we are out at work (although he really requires a new tank top as I think his Christmassy one clashes somewhat).


Anyway, now that I have a decent reading spot, I am determined to try to get back on track with reading. As I wrote in my last post, being reunited with my unpacked book collection, has spurred me towards lots of rereading, the familiar book being profoundly comforting whilst feeling so displaced. But I want to move onwards. I have some exciting books tucked away for my wedding trip, but I don't want to wait another 5 weeks (yes, it is now that close!) to get my reading mojo back.

So, I mainly want to ask for help. I wasn't so good at keeping up with blogs in the early part of June, and I'd love some recommendations of good reading. If you're reading this, please do let me know the best book that you've read in the last couple of months - whether it's new or old or a reread of an old favourite - and perhaps I can seek inspiration that way!

15 comments:

  1. I have nearly finished (literlly) pages to go of the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Set in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

    A real eye opener, and book that has tugged at the heartstrings.

    Or perhaps something light and comical. I am revisiting some Jeeves and Wooster at the moment.

    Nice to see you back,hope it is all coming together.

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  2. Welcome back to blogging-land... I love the bean bag :)

    Just finished Sula which I loved, and I enjoyed Tiger's Wife. Guessing you've read at least one of them, if not both...

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  3. I really enjoyed A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It's a novel which explores faith, predestination, and doubt and follows the story of two boys growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in a small New Hampshire town. I didn't agree with everything it had to say about predestination and faith, but it was interesting, thought provoking, and moving. I highly recommend it.

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  4. Your wedding is so close now! Hope everything is on track, you are a legend for planning a wedding and moving house. I've been in a little weird slump, but I just finished a Costa nominated book called 'Coconut Unlimited' by Nikesh Shukla about teeagers growing up in Harrow, trying to work out who they are and forming a very unsuccessful band. Lots of fun.

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  5. Only 5 weeks? Love your comfy new reading spot and it looks like Bernard does, too. I spent most of May reading Richard Yates, but I doubt he's what you want to read right now. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper was laugh out loud funny, and I really liked The Report by Jessica Francis Kane, too. It's good to see you here again :-)

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  6. I am very jealous of the bean-bag!! Can't believe your wedding is only 5 weeks away, very exciting!

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  7. I can't believe that your wedding is so close now! Must be a very nervous & happy time. I'm sorry to say I don't have anything to recommend at the moment. I'm in a bit of a reading slump myself.

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  8. Thanks for all of the ideas! I have put some reservations in at the library and will report back. I've started reading my book for Paris in July today so that is a good start.

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  9. I won't give you any recommendations as I seem to be only reading YA at the moment. Although I did love Sister and Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton.

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  10. I second anothercookiecrumbles' recommendation of Sula by Toni Morrison.

    I'd be quite interested in what you would think of The Lessons by Naomi Alderman, which I read recently and is set in Oxford.

    Hm, a lot of the things I've read recently you have already read... a major highlight of this year has been Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn, which I can't recommend highly enough.

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  11. Way to go, Ken!

    My favourite book recently has been 'To the North' by Bowen but not one to read with so many happy things going on in your life I think.

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  12. Lovely bean bag, Verity, Bernard looks very comfy.

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  13. Sending good thoughts your way - I hope you find something that really grabs you soon.

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  14. Love the beanbag, Bernard will never give it back - I know bears :) My best this year has been "Edith Sitwell; Avant Garde Poet & English Genius" by Richard Greene, which made me completely re-assess a brilliant & unjustly neglected writer, but I know you're not keen on biographies.

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  15. Hello - I've just finished Rosemary Sutcliff 'Eagle of the Ninth', a reread from my childhood and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Story set in Roman Britain, makes relatively few concessions in terms of explanatory exposition, but throws you straight in and I found it engrossing.

    Other recent reads I've enjoyed - Peter Mandelson's biography (every bit as spun as you'd expect, and revelling in it); Isherwood 'A Single Man' which just blew me away.

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